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| My tiled floor painted and ready to go. |
After Mulberry House I was totally hooked on Quarter Scale. For my next project I decided to do a shop. I was inspired by a flower tutorial I found on Pinterest and a picture that was posted on The MiniatureBeehive -Bea Broadwood from Petite Propertie's yahoo group-. I duly purchased The Corner Shop Kit and Book from Petite Properties (this kit has sadly been retired now but there are still lots of shop kits available). On arrival of my kit, I read the instructions thinking it would be similar to Mulberry House and have cereal packet bricks and soon realised that the bricks were in fact clay 😱. This was the most scary prospect yet. I had flashbacks to pottery at school...I was not good at pottery. Everybody in my class made beautiful regal coil pots but mine looked like a plate of spaghetti. Still, I had faith in Bea's expert tutoring so I took the plunge. The first job was the terracotta flooring. I rolled out my clay and scribed the tiles. Far from being stressful, it was very satisfying and quite cathartic. I was so pleased with the results.
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| This was pre-touch up! |
Next job was the mouldings inside and out. Bea's Kit and Book series give you step by step instructions and are really easy to follow. I didn't take long to do. I completed the shop front -this was mainly card- and the interior panelling, skirting and doors (more cereal box card). I decided to wallpaper the downstairs. I found some lovely card making paper in Hobbycraft with very small designs. It was perfect. After decorating the shell of the shop, I glued it all together and was ready for the brick clay work.
I want to share a few tips I've picked up with regards to using clay. I use a Perspex sheet with a sheet of greeseproof paper to roll my clay out on. The paper makes it easier to lift thin sheets. If the clay is too wet it will warp the MDF of the kit so leave the rolled out clay to dry for a few minutes before gluing it into place. I tried DAS air drying clay to begin with but didn't like the consistency. I like Scola clay which is a little drier and thicker, but experiment to see which one suits you. Take your time doing the scribing and be accurate with your measurements. Don't rush the drying process. I leave mine at room temperature for a couple of days before painting. The clay will shrink when it dries so slightly overlap the edges if you want a tighter fit. It can crack too, but these can be filled using a little clay mixed with water or just left to add to the effect.*
After scribing the clay bricks and leaving it to dry it was time to paint them. I used a sandstone crafters acrylic and painted the clay all over with a brush. Then I mixed a brick coloured paint and sponge painted the bricks. The roof was made out of strips of card. To finish my exterior, I made a sign on Word, printed and laminated it (I named the shop after my beautiful daughter). Then I used a seed bead for the door knob, a gold sticker for the letterbox and Emelia's was ready for business!!
Next time: Filling Emelia's with flowers.
*If you have anymore hints and tips please leave a comment.
This was the first of the Petite Properties kits I tackled and I sure wish my bricks came out as well done as yours!! Over the years the best advice I have received to prevent warping of the MDF when the clay is added is to spray all the MDF on both sides with 3 coats of acrylic sealer before doing anything to them. This has helped with the warping problem some of us experienced when using Creative Paper Clay. Another tip is to roll the clay on a tile with a couple of those long stirrers stuck onto the tile with double-sided tape, to enable you to roll the clay evenly to the correct thickness. If you put the clay between two sheets of baking paper, it won't stick to the tile or to the roller and you can use one sheet to hold the clay as you lift it (like you do with the greaseproof paper). Bea also gives some handy hints about cutting down the end of an old credit card to the exact height of the bricks to make a scribe for marking the bricks at the appropriate space for the length of the brick. Once the row of upright marks is made, a straight line can be marked across the top of them all ready for the new line of upright marks to be made.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip. I'll definitely try that!
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